Ultimate Showcase Wrestling
'Ultimate Showcase Wrestling '(also known as USW) is an American professional wrestling promotion formerly based out of Hartford, Connecticut; now based in State College, Pennsylvania. Ultimate Showcase Wrestling has a very strict and loyal fan base, however has yet to cross over into mainstream professional wrestling due to only being widely available in the northeastern part of the United States. Founded by Kyle Reece Jr, the promotion was the successor to Whacked Out Wrestling, a largely small-venue professional wrestling promotion founded by his father, Kyle Reece Sr from 2006 until closing in 2012. After hosting free showing pay per views in 2013 to gain a larger audience, the promotion started holding monthly pay per views at the beginning of 2014. In early 2016, the company grew to feature an extensive roster, so in acknowledgment, created Friday Night Severity, to be an equal counterpart to their weekly television series Wednesday Night Intensity. Both shows would feature their own exclusive rosters, thus creating more opportunities for performers involved on both or either show. In 2017, Ultimate Showcase Wrestling and British television network BBC signed a three-year broadcasting deal that would see both the Intensity and Severity brands broadcast weekly on Thursday and Saturday nights respectively on the BBC Sport channel, an agreement that would begin with the program debut in April 2018. The company has featured well known talent, including Majagetta, Cannon, Morbid, Derrick Carter, Zack Hardy, YoYo Joe, Westernlight and more during it's run. History Formation In March of 2011, after gaining traction with sponsors for their then-weekly show "Thursday Night WarZone", owner Kyle Reece Sr. started planning to close Whacked Out Wrestling and relaunch it in an entirely new entity called Ultimate Showcase Wrestling, to help prove the promotion to be more professional rather than amateur. The promotion then started hiring talent and training them in Niantic, Connecticut; which would allow the new promotion to feature new talent that can give it a professional identity, whilst also maintaining performers from then-Whacked Out Wrestling. In early 2012, the plan to close Whacked Out Wrestling was announced, and planned for after WoW Bullet Proof. At this time, Whacked Out Wrestling started referring to the new promotion on a weekly basis, thus formalizing the efforts to bring credibility to Ultimate Showcase Wrestling. On November 4th, 2012; Whacked Out Wrestling held it's final pay per view event under the WoW name, and officially disbanded before the end of the month. This would allow time for the promotion to place everything in motion for their formal opening in early-2013. On January 12, 2013; Kyle Reece Sr, and his sons Martin and Kyle Jr, would formally introduce Ultimate Showcase Wrestling. At the conference, Kyle Sr officially named Kyle Jr the owner and chairman of Ultimate Showcase Wrestling effective immediately. This would prove to be a big success, as Kyle Jr received favorable reviews within the first half of a year managing the promotion, as Kyle Sr would take on duties as the lead commentator for Wednesday Night Intensity. At launch, the promotion had managed to sign former WoW employee's Majagetta, Cannon, Morbid, YoYo Joe, Westernlight, Verse 9 and Double XL to official contracts. At the same time, the promotion also brought back Derrick Carter from the independent circuit, as well as other independent circuit prospects The Great Brothers (then renamed the Martin Brothers after their real names) as well as Dwayne Porter, Dustin Ramond and more. However; the biggest impact move was when WoW employee Zack Hardy, whom the former promotion had pushed as their most prized performer, refused to sign with the new promotion to focus on stabilizing where he was personally. Hardy would then sign with the promotion in March of the same year, with Derrick Carter leaving right afterwards after demanding a release from his contract. Ultimate Showcase Wrestling Logo History The top "Blue on Blue" logo was the company's logo from it's inception in 2013 until late-2014. The following "Gold on Blue" logo was the company's logo from 2014 until 2018, when the logo was revamped with a golden banner around the logo, which was incorporated as the official logo of the company since August 2018. The Introduction Year (2013) During the first year of Ultimate Showcase Wrestling's existence, the promotion took strides to grow a larger audience and fan base than Whacked Out Wrestling once had. With many former WoW fans jumping over to Ultimate Showcase Wrestling, new fans made their way into the promotion as well, with the help of free weekly special shows. For the majority of 2013, the promotion held one show a week, with every other week having another show that would feature a higher produced card and would be held on a higher standard to the other shows. When Zack Hardy debuted for the promotion in March of 2013, the promotion saw a drastic spike in viewership, going from roughly 24,000 views a week to 56,000 views a week. In the second half of the year, the promotion started airing payed content, with their premiere pay per view event; Call To Greatness, in July of that year. The following month, the promotion would hold their Capital Carnage pay per view event, following it with an Ultimate Consequence pay per view event the month after. The promotion would then hold three more pay per view events in the year; Bullet Proof, No Remorse, and Final Chapter before officially structuring a set schedule for the following year. In what proved to be a starting year for the promotion, it enjoyed drastic financial success, and the brand of Ultimate Showcase Wrestling was taken credibly and professionally, with Kyle Reece Jr officially being named the permanent owner of the promotion. The Identity Years (2014-2015) Going into 2014; the promotion started with original content and paid content, featuring their weekly show of Wednesday Night Intensity, and typically one to two pay per views a month. The big four pay per views of the promotion were announced to be; Call To Greatness, Ultimate Consequence, Capital Carnage, and Bullet Proof. These would prove to be the biggest successes from the first few years for the promotion when it came to paid content and pay per views. In 2014; Ultimate Showcase Wrestling held their "Call To Greatness IX" event with Zack Hardy and Morbid being the headlining match on the card. This pay per view would go on to break all time records for the promotion, and would be the highest rated wrestling pay per view event for three months following it. Achieving a then-record breaking crowd, the promotion's main event of Hardy Vs. Morbid was given a perfect rating based off of seven different reviews, which would then launch Ultimate Showcase Wrestling into a high power on the wrestling scene. The following year in 2015, the promotion continued to grow, with their "Call To Greatness X" show being yet another financial success, and the promotion starting a brief run with their developmental circuit, where they would train new wrestlers into a professional environment. This would include performers like Kevin Storm, Micah Jordan, Austin Atomic, The Northern Lights, and more that would find future success in the industry both in and out of the promotion. 2015 was the final year where the one and only weekly show would be "Intensity." Expansion and Increased Attention (2016-2019) In February of 2016, it was announced that the promotion would be implementing another weekly show, "Friday Night Severity" to be a counter part to "Wednesday Night Intensity" thus forging both shows to feature their own, distinct rosters. Severity then debuted in March of 2016; with the primary performers on the show being performers only familiar with the Ultimate Showcase Wrestling brand. By this point in time; the promotion's biggest star; Zack Hardy, had announced his decision to depart the promotion and officially left the promotion in February of 2016 for a short period of time, before deciding to go into a temporary, semi-retirement from the wrestling industry. With both shows now striving and going back and forth to win ratings, the promotion decided to move their headquarters and weekly shows from being held in Connecticut. By the end of 2016, the promotion officially moved it's base of operations to State College, Pennsylvania, marking the first move of the promotion from the state of Connecticut. Both shows would be financially successful, and would continue to keep the promotion thriving. With the new success found upon the promotion, they decided to start planning to move Call To Greatness outside of the northeastern part of the United States, marking the first time the promotion would hold shows outside of that part of the United States. It was then announced that the plan was to hold Call To Greatness XIV in Chicago, Illinois in 2019; marking the first USW branded show outside of northeastern United States. At this time, the promotion started gaining widespread traction, and gained more sponsors throughout the course of the year. In 2017; the promotion would sign independent stars The Stargazers, as well as signing former SWO performer Zac Ardin to a permanent full time contract. This year would prove to be a huge success for the promotion, with their Call To Greatness XII event featuring Majagetta Vs. Austin Atomic for the World Heavyweight Championship, which would receive positive attention on that scale for the first time since Call To Greatness XII. Later that year, Call To Greatness was named one of the top fifteen wrestling events currently active in the world. The year would also feature the return of Zack Hardy, the move of Majagetta, Cannon and Morbid (main performers on the Intensity brand) to Friday Night Severity, and the first time in the promotion's history where the Severity brand would earn more of a profit than Wednesday Night Intensity. This year would also feature main pay per views for both respective brands. During this year, it was made official that the new top four pay per views in the promotion would be Insanity, Call To Greatness, War Zone, and Bullet Proof. In 2019; the company held their first show in the midwest United States, with Call To Greatness XIV: Chicago being held in Illinois in April 2019. During the broadcast, the following year's event would be confirmed for San Diego in April 2020. In October 2019; both Ultimate Showcase Wrestling programs would run opposite more well-known companies WWE and All Elite Wrestling, with Friday Night Severity sharing the same day as the WWE' Friday Night SmackDown program, which began airing on the FOX Network. Wednesday Night Intensity then began sharing the same day as AEW's weekly program, which began airing on TNT in the United States. Also in 2019, the company reported that it was on track to make a twenty-five million dollar profit through all financials by the end of the year, which was the first time the company was on track to earn a positive cash flow of over that amount in it's history for the fiscal year. Intensity competition against WWE NXT and AEW Dynamite, Severity competition against WWE Friday Night SmackDown! (October 2019-present) On October 2, 2019; All Elite Wrestling debuted their weekly program Dynamite on TNT in the United States, competing directly against WWE's NXT broadcast on the USA Network. With both shows starting at the same time, USW's Wednesday Night Intensity broadcast would start an hour after both shows, and finish an hour after both shows go off the air, competing directly in their first hour against both companies in their second hour, marking the first time since their ratings battle with then-TNA Impact on Wednesday nights in 2014 that Intensity would have competition in the United States. During the discussion, Ultimate Showcase Wrestling would begin talks with Anthem Entertainment about airing on AXS TV on Wednesday and Friday nights. The following Friday, USW Friday Night Severity would begin competing under the same time-circumstances against WWE's Friday Night SmackDown! programming on the FOX Network. Features Brand Extension One of the most well known examples of a brand extension other than that of the WWE, is the brand split in USW with their two weekly shows Wednesday Night Intensity and Friday Night Severity. It is currently one of the only promotions to feature two weekly shows during it's tenure, fighting against each other both whilst both remaining under the same promotion's banner. The Bullet Proof Series (2014) In 2014, the promotion resurrected the Bullet Proof Series tournament from Whacked Out Wrestling for the first time in over three years. The winner of the event was DHIG in the same year. This was the final installment of the Bullet Proof Series to date. Kickoff Matches In 2013; the company began referring to the first match of any produced pay per view event as a "Kickoff Match" to highlight the trust they had in placing performers in a spot to open the show. USW would be the first company to do so, with their partner promotion ARC Wrestling being the second starting in 2019. Contracts Aside from a limited exception to the rule, Ultimate Showcase Wrestling performers are prohibited from performing for any other wrestling promotion whilst under contract or clause with Ultimate Showcase Wrestling. The performers are a set amount in intervals whilst under contract with the company (typically a one-year contract with very limited exceptions.) All performers are guaranteed health coverage from the promotion based on the extent of the injury, and are only covered for in-ring/on the job injuries sustained in connection with the promotion. In 2019, the company started signing most of it's roster to either four-year, or five-year contract extensions, good until the middle of the 2020's decade for many performers. Exceptions include Cannon, who signed a ten-year contract in 2019, and Chris Ross, who signed a contract as an executive and creative team member for the course of seven-years in 2019. Zack Hardy also signed a deal in 2017 that saw a one-and-a-half year deal split into three intervals, which ended in 2019 when he signed a three year deal with the company through 2022. Ownership In storyline and real life, the owner of Ultimate Showcase Wrestling is Kyle Reece Jr, from the Reece family. He inherited the promotion from his father when the promotion launched in January of 2013, and has been the owner and chairman for the promotion ever since. In May of 2016, Kyle Jr officially attained full control and decisions over anything in the promotion, with his father making it clear that his intention is to retire from the professional wrestling industry before the end of 2018. Kyle Jr, as well as the entirety of the Reece family have made it clear that there will be no purchasing of the promotion from any outside source unless proven to be reliable by the owner and the family. When asked in an interview in 2016 about Reece Jr's immediate future with running the promotion, Reece Jr would answer; "This is my life at the moment, and I hope it will remain that way until I die. This company has been my defining success in life, and hopefully it will also be my legacy when I go." Championships and Accomplishments Active Championships Active Accomplishments